Yuletide Letter 2019
Oct. 28th, 2019 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sadlikeknivesDearest Yulethor,
AO3 user sadlikeknives here, really excited to find out what you're going to write for me! I'm sure it's going to be great.
Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose. I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, soulbonds and soulmates, sexy-type biting and bloodplay (especially in vampire-related contexts and possessive/claiming type werewolf contexts), size kink (I really like both the bigger guy manhandling the smaller guy and the smaller guy loving it, and the smaller guy bossing the bigger guy around and the bigger guy loving it), and wingkink (when canonical wings are involved). I'm down with porn or not porn, or gen. And if you want to write wintery, Christmasy fic (or other-winter-holiday fic) I'm totally into that for any of these fandoms!
DNWs: bestiality (including shapeshifters in animal form), scat, watersports, cannibalism, noncon, dubcon, infidelity/cheating, omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg.
Additionally, I have a powerful embarrassment squick; seeing characters embarrassed, especially socially, or behaving in an embarrassing way without being aware of it where it's played for audience laughs really upsets me. And please no animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not fine) or major character death outside of addressing those that happen in canon if/when necessary.
Art of Murder Series – Josh Lanyon
Sam Kennedy, Jason West
I read this recently and, bless these guys' hearts, they're so bad at this and all the mayhem and murder and living on opposite sides of the freaking country doesn't really help, but they're trying because they love each other so much, even if it seems to be against their own will/better judgment at times.
Prompts!
1. Supernatural AU. Okay, so here's what I'm thinking:
- Jason is still an art crimes expert from an old money family, just, he's also a born vampire (or maybe fae, but vampire works really well with my next point). If you're familiar with the Night World series (a formative influence of my adolescence), I'm thinking something broadly along the lines of their lamia.
- Sam is probably still human (or not, surprise me) but is maybe a hunter type/specializes in supernatural killers (or supernatural serial killers? idk). Maybe Ethan's unsolved murder was committed by a vampire (and if you don't want supernatural stuff to be known, maybe nobody believed him). This could add a delicious extra layer of conflict into Sam's resistance to getting involved with Jason.
- Or maybe Sam sees dead people and that's why he's so good at his job + maybe he's been literally haunted by Ethan for the last twenty years.
- If you want to do something with the stalking stuff obviously Kyser is some form of supernatural entity. If not, some twist on one of their cases (maybe the victims in The Mermaid Murders were actual mermaids?) or just them navigating their relationship with these additional factors.
2. Something from Sam's POV would be awesome. I have this deep and abiding love of that scene in The Monet Murders where Sam's first sighting of Jason in eight months is him striding down the beach toward him in a tuxedo, and the delayed realization by the reader that that scene was painstakingly designed by the universe/author to punish Sam for his sins. That's just an example. So just getting inside Sam's head at some point would be great.
3. Okay, so I really enjoy domesticity, and these guys are...not great at it. But I would like to see them try. Maybe something from that second week in Wyoming when there wasn't an art theft or surprise serial killer, or any other unspecified time where they manage to be in the same place at the same time long enough for questions like, "What are we going to do for dinner?" or even "Uh West are you aware there are fake flower petals on your coffee table?" to matter.
4. Case fic! Art and murder intersect once again! Maybe a serial killer is posing their victims like famous paintings or stealing art from them or something IDK and Sam is like, "YES AN EXCUSE TO SEE MY BOYFRIEND" but in like a very professional manner.
5. Christmas fic! Okay, Sam, you don't do Christmas but you don't do birthday parties, either, so maybe you can do Christmas (maybe he was already in LA for a case so he figured might as well?) even if it means enduring your boyfriend's family's fancy Christmas Eve party. Or maybe Jason blows off said fancy party to spend the holiday in Virginia (or wherever Sam is knee-deep in murder). OR I'm intrigued by Sam's little pause before he says he's in Vegas in the Christmas snippet between The Mermaid Murders and The Monet Murders from Lanyon's blog. Were you really in Vegas, Sam? Or was that one of those times you were lying and you were really in LA?
6. Crossover option: Lanyon likes to drop little mentions in her books that confirm a lot of them take place in the same universe, and in one of the Adrien English books there's a mention of the Wests' Christmas party—either his mom went or dragged him along, I don't remember. Anyway: Jason and Adrien may already know each other at least in passing, and Jake Riordan and Sam Kennedy were spit out of the same 'big, blond, gay, forty-something law enforcement type' mold. I'd like to see them cross paths (basically, this). Possibly at a future West Christmas party, or on the job somehow. Or maybe Detective Alonzo called in some kind of conspiracy theorist tip about time-traveling serial killer Adrien English that managed to be just convincing enough the FBI has to follow up on it.
Benjamin January Mysteries – Barbara Hambly
Benjamin January, Abishag Shaw
You remember waaaaaaaaaay back at the end of A Free Man of Color when Shaw's standing by Ben's table at the Place des Armes Because Society and Ben's like, "Or you could sit the fuck down one of these days?" Gentle Author, I shipped it then, and I ship it still. I just want to shove them together like a couple of really tall Ken dolls and go, "NOW KISS." I love how they navigate their godawful society's expectations and restrictions, how they often communicate via what's not said. I love how tentative Ben has always been to trust Shaw, in the face of evidence that Shaw is All In on trusting Ben, and then how in Murder in July he realizes Shaw would march off to assassinate the Queen of England if he asked him to (although it sort of drives me crazy that then at the end of the book Hannibal and Ben decided they needed to pull a fast one on Shaw just in case he randomly decided to confiscate the papers at the expense of Rose, like that's a thing he would ever do). I love how committed to justice they both are, and how they recognize that's different from the rule of law, and their mutual frustration with society's preference for a tidy resolution over true justice being done. I love how respectful they both are of the other's skills, and how they both use other people's expectations of their behavior. In short, I love them, and I want more of them.
Quick note: As I said above I'm really not into straight up infidelity/cheating, and Ben, of course, has a wife. So if you don't want to write the poly option, you could set your fic before Ben met Rose, or handwave the whole relationship away/platonic, or have Rose be really open-minded because she's Rose, but please: no straight-up cheating.
Additional note: I have to confess, I'm shallow. I generally picture Shaw as more, you know, sexy scruffy (like, Hollywood historical scruffy) than with the level of hygiene, if one can even call it that, described in the books, because seriously, he's an intelligent man, he knows what soap is for, why will he not use it?? It's not cute. So, like, if you could steer away from descriptions where he is as unpleasant as in canon, I would greatly appreciate that.
Prompts!
1. Possibly Shaw could be pining after Ben. I feel like this makes a lot of narrative sense. Like, he knows it's useless and never gonna happen (but then it DOES?) and probably beats himself up over it, but ooooh that commitment to justice and all that expertise, so sexy. Possibly Rose has known about this for a while and is amazed Ben has been so oblivious.
2. They could investigate something new! Who's dead, in the middle of a scandal, or robbed blind this week? Which combination of medical, musical, tracking, science, and marksmanship expertise saves the day?
3. Concept I know I've been banging like a drum for a while now, but that's because I love it so: Abishag 'what is bathing, and also, I can track you through a hurricane' Shaw is a werewolf. (And just maybe Hannibal is a vampire?) Ben finds out (Silver allergy? Something connected to a case?). He's intrigued. Possibly, together they fight supernatural crime.
4. Shaw gets hurt and Ben (and possibly Rose) nurse him back to health. Possibly while trying to conceal in increasingly slapstick fashion that they're sheltering runaways in their house, which Shaw has probably known for like years now lbr. He's probably carving toys for the little runaway children during his convalescence or something.
5. If you have not yet read Lady of Perdition, stop reading now: Because Reasons, Shaw stays in Texas with Ben to investigate the murder instead of Hannibal.
The Iron Covenant – Ilona Andrews
Hugh d'Ambray
HUGH! I love this jerk. I love his ego, and his magic, and the fact that he is genuinely having to face up to what he has done and work for it. I love how he and Elara swipe at each other, the way they both keep looking at each other's monstrosity and going, "Okay, what else you got?" and that by Magic Triumphs they're going to genuinely be in love. I love Hugh with the Iron Dogs! His people! I love his growing menagerie and how resistant to it he is! And I would like fic about him.
Prompts!
1. Something about Hugh and Elara's developing relationship, with the two of them being sharp-tongued little shits while Getting Things Done. Maybe they have to travel for a contract and some monster or bandits or whatever picks The Wrong Couple To Mess With? Maybe they just argue A LOT. I have this notion that arguing with Elara is kind of like therapy for Hugh because...she's not going to brainwash him into doing what she wants anyway at the end of the argument. He can actually argue his point and then, if she disagrees, still do what he was going to do anyway. It's AMAZING. Of course neither of them realizes this but I think that if Elara did she would deliberately pick more arguments with Hugh.
2. How exactly did it go down when Julie suddenly showed up out of fuckin' nowhere at Baile like, "Hey there's a dragon attacking Atlanta PS Roland told me you were here"? Did Hugh have an aneurysm?
3. Something about Hugh and the Iron Dogs when they're not scrambling to get the castle ready for Nez, when they finally have a minute to breathe/deal with everything they've lost/get the karaoke machine up and working again/all of the above.
4. Maybe some ally or trading partner or whatever shows up and recognizes Hugh and is like, "You totally sold me out one time," and Hugh is like, "I have literally no memory of that, because of all the brainwashing," (and Stoyan and the others are like, "Uh yeah we unfortunately do remember that haha sorry?") and that has to be dealt with and it's just really awkward all around.
5. But like seriously what did the rest of the leadership of the Iron Dogs think of their Preceptor occasionally being brainwashed into ordering them to do the opposite of whatever they were going to do five minutes ago? That must have been a problem at times.
6. As I go into in more detail below, I ship Hugh/Christopher, because I read things into things, so how about: AU where Hugh somehow retained custody of Christopher post-Magic Rises and into his exile, and Christopher ends up at Baile with him and the Iron Dogs. (Maybe we can assume the barrels of panacea weren't poisoned in this universe so I didn't just inadvertently kill off a bunch of innocent shapeshifter children? And I have no idea how Kate got out of Mishmar—okay, I'm overthinking this.) I just would really love to see Elara's reaction to Hugh with an obvious weak spot/Hugh as caretaker, and also maybe Hugh and Elara and Christopher figuring this thing out after Christopher is, for whatever reason in this AU, sane again. (And also maybe Christopher dunking on Landon Nez for stealing his job.)
7. Hugh and kids and/or animals. Give me more of his dog that won't listen to him or his horse that is definitely not a unicorn you guys. Give me a baby magical beastie that decides Hugh is its mama. Give me more small children glomming onto the scariest thing in a fifty-mile radius to his absolute consternation. It's all good.
Kate Daniels – Ilona Andrews
Hugh d'Ambray, Christopher Steed
After the part in Magic Triumphs where Christopher tells Kate that A) unlike pretty much everyone else outside the Iron Dogs, he paid enough attention to figure out what Roland was doing to control Hugh pretty early on and B) Hugh took better care of him when he was in the cage than previously thought, and possibly than he was supposed to, considering it's mentioned he fed and talked to him only at night when no one else was around, and Hugh's guilt-flashback re: Christopher in the cage in Iron & Magic and how he thinks about Christopher as the only Legatus he could ever stand, I went back and reread Magic Rises and I realized that maybe Hugh set Kate up to rescue Christopher on purpose with the 'anything in this courtyard' wording (like, maybe not consciously, because of Roland's conditioning and because he really didn't expect to lose that match, but on some level I really think he knew what he was saying there, because Hugh is not wired to withstand someone suffering on his watch like that and he had to fix it somehow).
And now I ship it. Of course, if you don't ship it, I'm also interested in exploring their history and dynamic moving forward as former colleagues in the evil empire > guy who kept other guy in a cage> awkward allies in redemption.
Note if you're going the shippy route: If you're writing something set during the era of the books, as opposed to the pre-canon Preceptor/Legatus era, please nothing sexual during the period when Christopher was mentally unstable. As far as their canonical relationships go, I'm happy for Hugh's marriage to Elara to remain a professional business arrangement, or with V-shaped poly or a triad, whatever you want to do there. As far as Christopher's relationship with Barabas goes, I can't really see Barabas sharing Christopher with Hugh d'Ambray, so I would prefer you go with their canon relationship never really taking off.
Prompts! Some of these are shippy but some of them can go either way, I think.
1. Some kind of FWB arrangement set during their days as Legatus and Preceptor that maybe gets more serious than either of them meant it to, or mutual pining and both of them aware that it's a REALLY BAD IDEA as far as Roland is concerned, and then maybe after everything they meet up again and realize they have a second chance.
2. Or in that same period where they were equals, something with Christopher and Hugh working together to salvage a situation, possibly one that's gone south (possibly thanks to Roland's meddling/not listening to Hugh/maybe even brainwashing Hugh). Like, when Omaha got broken, was that...was that what was supposed to happen? Or were they both pretty sure for about five minutes there that they were super going to die?
3. Something to do with Christopher losing his wing in Magic Triumphs, because I have this notion that Hugh is the healer you call in to deal with the situation when you've got an actual avatar with an extra-crispy appendage, and then you've got Christopher, of course, devastated, and Hugh feeling really guilty about being unable to save the wing and yes good angst. (And then maybe the wing grows back?)
4. Any sex is good sex, but I'm really feeling intercrural for this pairing, I mean, Christopher is kind of Greek, it seems appropriate, plus I have this headcanon I think is supported by the sex scene in Iron & Magic that Hugh's refractory period is ridiculous because of all the healing magic, and I'm also pretty sure it's canon that his cock is huge, so please, Hugh, fuck Christopher's thighs and give his ass a break.
5. Something set during the preparations for the battle with Neig, maybe? Like everyone from Atlanta being weirded out by Christopher and Hugh falling right into a groove during planning, or the Iron Dogs being like, "STEED! *enthusiastic hugs*" because it's always kind of exciting when someone they used to know isn't dead OR trying to kill them.
6. Christopher is a wildly magically powerful human with a god stuffed in him, whose hair was turned white by magic (Maybe? The books seem to go back and forth on whether it's blond or white. I think it's white.). Elara, as far as we can work out thus far, is a wildly magically powerful human with some kind of elder power stuffed in her whose hair was turned white by magic. Perhaps Hugh has to deal with the realization he has a very specific type (and perhaps the Iron Dogs rag him about this realization relentlessly).
Mercy Thompson Series – Patricia Briggs
Kyle Brooks, Warren Smith
Let's talk about how much I have always loved Warren and Kyle. Like, on paper, they don't work: a hundred and fifty year old Texas cowboy werewolf who works at a gas station and a rich, human, Ivy League educated lawyer. And they both know that. And it doesn't matter. I love Kyle's ridiculous marble statues, and his vanity and the chip on his shoulder, and the way Warren loves those things too and sees Kyle's good heart. I love how easygoing and Texan Warren is, and all the pain and violence that's simmering away under the surface, and how Kyle doesn't care about all of the werewolf shit, he just loves him—and how Kyle, as he says in the short story "In Red, with Pearls," is his own kind of predator, and that just because he eviscerates his prey in court, not, you know, literally, doesn't mean he can't understand Warren's wolf.
Prompts!
1. There's like seven or eight rough months for Warren and Kyle between Moon Called and Blood Bound that we know very little about, and I'm really interested in this period—the pining and the draw that kept them coming back to each other (Were they sleeping together at any point in this period? That must have been really bittersweet) and saw Kyle hiring Warren, especially, but also how the 'so, werewolves' conversations went (and the fights, you know there were fights).
2. I'm very into Domesticity With Werewolves, apparently, so give me some of that. Maybe make Kyle go camping (Oh god. He will be so bad at it. Or maybe, plot twist, he's not?), since Warren's been trying to get him to for several books now, but any sort of domestic cozy shit I'll eat up with a spoon.
3. Concept: Kyle gets turned into a werewolf. I feel like he'd probably be pretty good at it. How does that happen? Is it on purpose, like he's sick or something? Or does some rogue or some other pack trying to come at Columbia Basin, now that they're exiled, attack him? How does that affect the pack structure? How many bed frames do he and Warren break while Kyle is learning his new strength?
4. In Frost Burned, Kyle reveals that his mating bond with Warren is starting to be two-way, but, being human, he just thought he was going crazy. And then we never really hear about that again. So: how does that psychic bond work for a human? Do he and Warren have enough control over it for it to be useful? Does it have sexytimes applications?
5. Something dealing with Kyle's family. Maybe his sister he still speaks to is coming to visit (for Christmas?) and he's freaking out, or his deploying the nuclear option with regards to his father in Frost Burned has to be dealt with somehow.
6. Kyle and Warren get married that's it that's the prompt. Do they just go to the courthouse and formalize it (and then the rest of the pack is scrambling trying to put a reception together on zero notice)? Does Kyle want a big thing? Or does Kyle have a lot of hangups about marriage because of his profession, but he also knows the legal benefits are Important?
7. So I am just assuming that Warren, as the only member of the pack we know has actually worked with cattle, was part of the 'finding a lost calf and some llamas' operation that Zack wrote a song about, but, assuming that is true, with the zombie cow incident Warren has now gone viral twice for werewolf cowboy shenanigans. He's basically famous. I feel like he would be mildly confused and Kyle would be very smug that the internet agrees his boyfriend is hot.
Soulbound Series – Hailey Turner
Patrick Collins, Jonothon de Vere
This canon and this pairing could have been tailor made for me, holy shit. HE'S a lonely alpha werewolf who just wants a pack to take care of, to whom the god Fenrir speaks. HE'S a mage with secrets, dramatic scars, and metaphysical damage that makes his magic painful and draining to use, resulting in many opportunities for h/c, despite the fact that he takes to h/c about as well as a cat does to water. Also he's indebted to the gods and they keep trying to run/ruin his life. They have an ACCIDENTAL SOULBOND and one of them thinks it's great and the other one thinks it's the worst thing ever. Together, they fight crime and learn about found family. AMAZING.
PROMPTS!
1. See above re: opportunities for h/c. Maybe Patrick overtaxes his magic again. Maybe he just has the flu! Maybe something else. Whatever way you go with it, Jono's caretaker instincts are triggered and Patrick is grumpy about it (But humoring him. Yeah, that's what it is. Humoring him.).
2. Something involving their CANONICAL SOULBOND. I'm not picky.
3. Listen just make them fuck and I'm happy. Bonus points for something about Patrick's scars/self-consciousness about his scars and/or Jono's need to make Patrick smell like him.
4. Something involving the various gods in their lives! Either something about Jono dealing with Fenrir's opinions/interference or just, like, Patrick's whole situation. Or both, both is good.
5. Pack bonding activities! Because the pack that ice skates and keeps Wade from shoplifting together stays together, or something like that.
6. "We are trying to have date night but supernatural bullshit keeps interfering so much."
7. Jono attempts to teach Patrick to cook. It...it goes...they still have a kitchen? At least Jono's really hard to poison? (Gerard & Keith: "Wow you're so much braver than us.")
AO3 user sadlikeknives here, really excited to find out what you're going to write for me! I'm sure it's going to be great.
Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose. I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, soulbonds and soulmates, sexy-type biting and bloodplay (especially in vampire-related contexts and possessive/claiming type werewolf contexts), size kink (I really like both the bigger guy manhandling the smaller guy and the smaller guy loving it, and the smaller guy bossing the bigger guy around and the bigger guy loving it), and wingkink (when canonical wings are involved). I'm down with porn or not porn, or gen. And if you want to write wintery, Christmasy fic (or other-winter-holiday fic) I'm totally into that for any of these fandoms!
DNWs: bestiality (including shapeshifters in animal form), scat, watersports, cannibalism, noncon, dubcon, infidelity/cheating, omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg.
Additionally, I have a powerful embarrassment squick; seeing characters embarrassed, especially socially, or behaving in an embarrassing way without being aware of it where it's played for audience laughs really upsets me. And please no animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not fine) or major character death outside of addressing those that happen in canon if/when necessary.
Art of Murder Series – Josh Lanyon
Sam Kennedy, Jason West
I read this recently and, bless these guys' hearts, they're so bad at this and all the mayhem and murder and living on opposite sides of the freaking country doesn't really help, but they're trying because they love each other so much, even if it seems to be against their own will/better judgment at times.
Prompts!
1. Supernatural AU. Okay, so here's what I'm thinking:
- Jason is still an art crimes expert from an old money family, just, he's also a born vampire (or maybe fae, but vampire works really well with my next point). If you're familiar with the Night World series (a formative influence of my adolescence), I'm thinking something broadly along the lines of their lamia.
- Sam is probably still human (or not, surprise me) but is maybe a hunter type/specializes in supernatural killers (or supernatural serial killers? idk). Maybe Ethan's unsolved murder was committed by a vampire (and if you don't want supernatural stuff to be known, maybe nobody believed him). This could add a delicious extra layer of conflict into Sam's resistance to getting involved with Jason.
- Or maybe Sam sees dead people and that's why he's so good at his job + maybe he's been literally haunted by Ethan for the last twenty years.
- If you want to do something with the stalking stuff obviously Kyser is some form of supernatural entity. If not, some twist on one of their cases (maybe the victims in The Mermaid Murders were actual mermaids?) or just them navigating their relationship with these additional factors.
2. Something from Sam's POV would be awesome. I have this deep and abiding love of that scene in The Monet Murders where Sam's first sighting of Jason in eight months is him striding down the beach toward him in a tuxedo, and the delayed realization by the reader that that scene was painstakingly designed by the universe/author to punish Sam for his sins. That's just an example. So just getting inside Sam's head at some point would be great.
3. Okay, so I really enjoy domesticity, and these guys are...not great at it. But I would like to see them try. Maybe something from that second week in Wyoming when there wasn't an art theft or surprise serial killer, or any other unspecified time where they manage to be in the same place at the same time long enough for questions like, "What are we going to do for dinner?" or even "Uh West are you aware there are fake flower petals on your coffee table?" to matter.
4. Case fic! Art and murder intersect once again! Maybe a serial killer is posing their victims like famous paintings or stealing art from them or something IDK and Sam is like, "YES AN EXCUSE TO SEE MY BOYFRIEND" but in like a very professional manner.
5. Christmas fic! Okay, Sam, you don't do Christmas but you don't do birthday parties, either, so maybe you can do Christmas (maybe he was already in LA for a case so he figured might as well?) even if it means enduring your boyfriend's family's fancy Christmas Eve party. Or maybe Jason blows off said fancy party to spend the holiday in Virginia (or wherever Sam is knee-deep in murder). OR I'm intrigued by Sam's little pause before he says he's in Vegas in the Christmas snippet between The Mermaid Murders and The Monet Murders from Lanyon's blog. Were you really in Vegas, Sam? Or was that one of those times you were lying and you were really in LA?
6. Crossover option: Lanyon likes to drop little mentions in her books that confirm a lot of them take place in the same universe, and in one of the Adrien English books there's a mention of the Wests' Christmas party—either his mom went or dragged him along, I don't remember. Anyway: Jason and Adrien may already know each other at least in passing, and Jake Riordan and Sam Kennedy were spit out of the same 'big, blond, gay, forty-something law enforcement type' mold. I'd like to see them cross paths (basically, this). Possibly at a future West Christmas party, or on the job somehow. Or maybe Detective Alonzo called in some kind of conspiracy theorist tip about time-traveling serial killer Adrien English that managed to be just convincing enough the FBI has to follow up on it.
Benjamin January Mysteries – Barbara Hambly
Benjamin January, Abishag Shaw
You remember waaaaaaaaaay back at the end of A Free Man of Color when Shaw's standing by Ben's table at the Place des Armes Because Society and Ben's like, "Or you could sit the fuck down one of these days?" Gentle Author, I shipped it then, and I ship it still. I just want to shove them together like a couple of really tall Ken dolls and go, "NOW KISS." I love how they navigate their godawful society's expectations and restrictions, how they often communicate via what's not said. I love how tentative Ben has always been to trust Shaw, in the face of evidence that Shaw is All In on trusting Ben, and then how in Murder in July he realizes Shaw would march off to assassinate the Queen of England if he asked him to (although it sort of drives me crazy that then at the end of the book Hannibal and Ben decided they needed to pull a fast one on Shaw just in case he randomly decided to confiscate the papers at the expense of Rose, like that's a thing he would ever do). I love how committed to justice they both are, and how they recognize that's different from the rule of law, and their mutual frustration with society's preference for a tidy resolution over true justice being done. I love how respectful they both are of the other's skills, and how they both use other people's expectations of their behavior. In short, I love them, and I want more of them.
Quick note: As I said above I'm really not into straight up infidelity/cheating, and Ben, of course, has a wife. So if you don't want to write the poly option, you could set your fic before Ben met Rose, or handwave the whole relationship away/platonic, or have Rose be really open-minded because she's Rose, but please: no straight-up cheating.
Additional note: I have to confess, I'm shallow. I generally picture Shaw as more, you know, sexy scruffy (like, Hollywood historical scruffy) than with the level of hygiene, if one can even call it that, described in the books, because seriously, he's an intelligent man, he knows what soap is for, why will he not use it?? It's not cute. So, like, if you could steer away from descriptions where he is as unpleasant as in canon, I would greatly appreciate that.
Prompts!
1. Possibly Shaw could be pining after Ben. I feel like this makes a lot of narrative sense. Like, he knows it's useless and never gonna happen (but then it DOES?) and probably beats himself up over it, but ooooh that commitment to justice and all that expertise, so sexy. Possibly Rose has known about this for a while and is amazed Ben has been so oblivious.
2. They could investigate something new! Who's dead, in the middle of a scandal, or robbed blind this week? Which combination of medical, musical, tracking, science, and marksmanship expertise saves the day?
3. Concept I know I've been banging like a drum for a while now, but that's because I love it so: Abishag 'what is bathing, and also, I can track you through a hurricane' Shaw is a werewolf. (And just maybe Hannibal is a vampire?) Ben finds out (Silver allergy? Something connected to a case?). He's intrigued. Possibly, together they fight supernatural crime.
4. Shaw gets hurt and Ben (and possibly Rose) nurse him back to health. Possibly while trying to conceal in increasingly slapstick fashion that they're sheltering runaways in their house, which Shaw has probably known for like years now lbr. He's probably carving toys for the little runaway children during his convalescence or something.
5. If you have not yet read Lady of Perdition, stop reading now: Because Reasons, Shaw stays in Texas with Ben to investigate the murder instead of Hannibal.
The Iron Covenant – Ilona Andrews
Hugh d'Ambray
HUGH! I love this jerk. I love his ego, and his magic, and the fact that he is genuinely having to face up to what he has done and work for it. I love how he and Elara swipe at each other, the way they both keep looking at each other's monstrosity and going, "Okay, what else you got?" and that by Magic Triumphs they're going to genuinely be in love. I love Hugh with the Iron Dogs! His people! I love his growing menagerie and how resistant to it he is! And I would like fic about him.
Prompts!
1. Something about Hugh and Elara's developing relationship, with the two of them being sharp-tongued little shits while Getting Things Done. Maybe they have to travel for a contract and some monster or bandits or whatever picks The Wrong Couple To Mess With? Maybe they just argue A LOT. I have this notion that arguing with Elara is kind of like therapy for Hugh because...she's not going to brainwash him into doing what she wants anyway at the end of the argument. He can actually argue his point and then, if she disagrees, still do what he was going to do anyway. It's AMAZING. Of course neither of them realizes this but I think that if Elara did she would deliberately pick more arguments with Hugh.
2. How exactly did it go down when Julie suddenly showed up out of fuckin' nowhere at Baile like, "Hey there's a dragon attacking Atlanta PS Roland told me you were here"? Did Hugh have an aneurysm?
3. Something about Hugh and the Iron Dogs when they're not scrambling to get the castle ready for Nez, when they finally have a minute to breathe/deal with everything they've lost/get the karaoke machine up and working again/all of the above.
4. Maybe some ally or trading partner or whatever shows up and recognizes Hugh and is like, "You totally sold me out one time," and Hugh is like, "I have literally no memory of that, because of all the brainwashing," (and Stoyan and the others are like, "Uh yeah we unfortunately do remember that haha sorry?") and that has to be dealt with and it's just really awkward all around.
5. But like seriously what did the rest of the leadership of the Iron Dogs think of their Preceptor occasionally being brainwashed into ordering them to do the opposite of whatever they were going to do five minutes ago? That must have been a problem at times.
6. As I go into in more detail below, I ship Hugh/Christopher, because I read things into things, so how about: AU where Hugh somehow retained custody of Christopher post-Magic Rises and into his exile, and Christopher ends up at Baile with him and the Iron Dogs. (Maybe we can assume the barrels of panacea weren't poisoned in this universe so I didn't just inadvertently kill off a bunch of innocent shapeshifter children? And I have no idea how Kate got out of Mishmar—okay, I'm overthinking this.) I just would really love to see Elara's reaction to Hugh with an obvious weak spot/Hugh as caretaker, and also maybe Hugh and Elara and Christopher figuring this thing out after Christopher is, for whatever reason in this AU, sane again. (And also maybe Christopher dunking on Landon Nez for stealing his job.)
7. Hugh and kids and/or animals. Give me more of his dog that won't listen to him or his horse that is definitely not a unicorn you guys. Give me a baby magical beastie that decides Hugh is its mama. Give me more small children glomming onto the scariest thing in a fifty-mile radius to his absolute consternation. It's all good.
Kate Daniels – Ilona Andrews
Hugh d'Ambray, Christopher Steed
After the part in Magic Triumphs where Christopher tells Kate that A) unlike pretty much everyone else outside the Iron Dogs, he paid enough attention to figure out what Roland was doing to control Hugh pretty early on and B) Hugh took better care of him when he was in the cage than previously thought, and possibly than he was supposed to, considering it's mentioned he fed and talked to him only at night when no one else was around, and Hugh's guilt-flashback re: Christopher in the cage in Iron & Magic and how he thinks about Christopher as the only Legatus he could ever stand, I went back and reread Magic Rises and I realized that maybe Hugh set Kate up to rescue Christopher on purpose with the 'anything in this courtyard' wording (like, maybe not consciously, because of Roland's conditioning and because he really didn't expect to lose that match, but on some level I really think he knew what he was saying there, because Hugh is not wired to withstand someone suffering on his watch like that and he had to fix it somehow).
And now I ship it. Of course, if you don't ship it, I'm also interested in exploring their history and dynamic moving forward as former colleagues in the evil empire > guy who kept other guy in a cage> awkward allies in redemption.
Note if you're going the shippy route: If you're writing something set during the era of the books, as opposed to the pre-canon Preceptor/Legatus era, please nothing sexual during the period when Christopher was mentally unstable. As far as their canonical relationships go, I'm happy for Hugh's marriage to Elara to remain a professional business arrangement, or with V-shaped poly or a triad, whatever you want to do there. As far as Christopher's relationship with Barabas goes, I can't really see Barabas sharing Christopher with Hugh d'Ambray, so I would prefer you go with their canon relationship never really taking off.
Prompts! Some of these are shippy but some of them can go either way, I think.
1. Some kind of FWB arrangement set during their days as Legatus and Preceptor that maybe gets more serious than either of them meant it to, or mutual pining and both of them aware that it's a REALLY BAD IDEA as far as Roland is concerned, and then maybe after everything they meet up again and realize they have a second chance.
2. Or in that same period where they were equals, something with Christopher and Hugh working together to salvage a situation, possibly one that's gone south (possibly thanks to Roland's meddling/not listening to Hugh/maybe even brainwashing Hugh). Like, when Omaha got broken, was that...was that what was supposed to happen? Or were they both pretty sure for about five minutes there that they were super going to die?
3. Something to do with Christopher losing his wing in Magic Triumphs, because I have this notion that Hugh is the healer you call in to deal with the situation when you've got an actual avatar with an extra-crispy appendage, and then you've got Christopher, of course, devastated, and Hugh feeling really guilty about being unable to save the wing and yes good angst. (And then maybe the wing grows back?)
4. Any sex is good sex, but I'm really feeling intercrural for this pairing, I mean, Christopher is kind of Greek, it seems appropriate, plus I have this headcanon I think is supported by the sex scene in Iron & Magic that Hugh's refractory period is ridiculous because of all the healing magic, and I'm also pretty sure it's canon that his cock is huge, so please, Hugh, fuck Christopher's thighs and give his ass a break.
5. Something set during the preparations for the battle with Neig, maybe? Like everyone from Atlanta being weirded out by Christopher and Hugh falling right into a groove during planning, or the Iron Dogs being like, "STEED! *enthusiastic hugs*" because it's always kind of exciting when someone they used to know isn't dead OR trying to kill them.
6. Christopher is a wildly magically powerful human with a god stuffed in him, whose hair was turned white by magic (Maybe? The books seem to go back and forth on whether it's blond or white. I think it's white.). Elara, as far as we can work out thus far, is a wildly magically powerful human with some kind of elder power stuffed in her whose hair was turned white by magic. Perhaps Hugh has to deal with the realization he has a very specific type (and perhaps the Iron Dogs rag him about this realization relentlessly).
Mercy Thompson Series – Patricia Briggs
Kyle Brooks, Warren Smith
Let's talk about how much I have always loved Warren and Kyle. Like, on paper, they don't work: a hundred and fifty year old Texas cowboy werewolf who works at a gas station and a rich, human, Ivy League educated lawyer. And they both know that. And it doesn't matter. I love Kyle's ridiculous marble statues, and his vanity and the chip on his shoulder, and the way Warren loves those things too and sees Kyle's good heart. I love how easygoing and Texan Warren is, and all the pain and violence that's simmering away under the surface, and how Kyle doesn't care about all of the werewolf shit, he just loves him—and how Kyle, as he says in the short story "In Red, with Pearls," is his own kind of predator, and that just because he eviscerates his prey in court, not, you know, literally, doesn't mean he can't understand Warren's wolf.
Prompts!
1. There's like seven or eight rough months for Warren and Kyle between Moon Called and Blood Bound that we know very little about, and I'm really interested in this period—the pining and the draw that kept them coming back to each other (Were they sleeping together at any point in this period? That must have been really bittersweet) and saw Kyle hiring Warren, especially, but also how the 'so, werewolves' conversations went (and the fights, you know there were fights).
2. I'm very into Domesticity With Werewolves, apparently, so give me some of that. Maybe make Kyle go camping (Oh god. He will be so bad at it. Or maybe, plot twist, he's not?), since Warren's been trying to get him to for several books now, but any sort of domestic cozy shit I'll eat up with a spoon.
3. Concept: Kyle gets turned into a werewolf. I feel like he'd probably be pretty good at it. How does that happen? Is it on purpose, like he's sick or something? Or does some rogue or some other pack trying to come at Columbia Basin, now that they're exiled, attack him? How does that affect the pack structure? How many bed frames do he and Warren break while Kyle is learning his new strength?
4. In Frost Burned, Kyle reveals that his mating bond with Warren is starting to be two-way, but, being human, he just thought he was going crazy. And then we never really hear about that again. So: how does that psychic bond work for a human? Do he and Warren have enough control over it for it to be useful? Does it have sexytimes applications?
5. Something dealing with Kyle's family. Maybe his sister he still speaks to is coming to visit (for Christmas?) and he's freaking out, or his deploying the nuclear option with regards to his father in Frost Burned has to be dealt with somehow.
6. Kyle and Warren get married that's it that's the prompt. Do they just go to the courthouse and formalize it (and then the rest of the pack is scrambling trying to put a reception together on zero notice)? Does Kyle want a big thing? Or does Kyle have a lot of hangups about marriage because of his profession, but he also knows the legal benefits are Important?
7. So I am just assuming that Warren, as the only member of the pack we know has actually worked with cattle, was part of the 'finding a lost calf and some llamas' operation that Zack wrote a song about, but, assuming that is true, with the zombie cow incident Warren has now gone viral twice for werewolf cowboy shenanigans. He's basically famous. I feel like he would be mildly confused and Kyle would be very smug that the internet agrees his boyfriend is hot.
Soulbound Series – Hailey Turner
Patrick Collins, Jonothon de Vere
This canon and this pairing could have been tailor made for me, holy shit. HE'S a lonely alpha werewolf who just wants a pack to take care of, to whom the god Fenrir speaks. HE'S a mage with secrets, dramatic scars, and metaphysical damage that makes his magic painful and draining to use, resulting in many opportunities for h/c, despite the fact that he takes to h/c about as well as a cat does to water. Also he's indebted to the gods and they keep trying to run/ruin his life. They have an ACCIDENTAL SOULBOND and one of them thinks it's great and the other one thinks it's the worst thing ever. Together, they fight crime and learn about found family. AMAZING.
PROMPTS!
1. See above re: opportunities for h/c. Maybe Patrick overtaxes his magic again. Maybe he just has the flu! Maybe something else. Whatever way you go with it, Jono's caretaker instincts are triggered and Patrick is grumpy about it (But humoring him. Yeah, that's what it is. Humoring him.).
2. Something involving their CANONICAL SOULBOND. I'm not picky.
3. Listen just make them fuck and I'm happy. Bonus points for something about Patrick's scars/self-consciousness about his scars and/or Jono's need to make Patrick smell like him.
4. Something involving the various gods in their lives! Either something about Jono dealing with Fenrir's opinions/interference or just, like, Patrick's whole situation. Or both, both is good.
5. Pack bonding activities! Because the pack that ice skates and keeps Wade from shoplifting together stays together, or something like that.
6. "We are trying to have date night but supernatural bullshit keeps interfering so much."
7. Jono attempts to teach Patrick to cook. It...it goes...they still have a kitchen? At least Jono's really hard to poison? (Gerard & Keith: "Wow you're so much braver than us.")
